


The Ruins Between Us

by Yosthegoosol



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Brief Mention of Blood, Gen, kuvira backstory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-24
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:53:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24891124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yosthegoosol/pseuds/Yosthegoosol
Summary: Suyin ponders the past.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 24





	The Ruins Between Us

_“You’re going to hurt somebody in this family.”_

Kuvira frowned, feeling the threat of tears take hold.

_“The way you hurt your mother.”_

She shook her head violently, walking down the hall with determination but not knowing where she was headed.

She was going to hurt this family? She looked back on Opal’s words, shame and humiliation, and...anger buzzing around in her head so loud so swear she could hear herself fuming. 

_“She’s not my sister! She’s a stray dog nobody ever wanted.”_

She flinched at the memory, still fresh and oozing. 

_“Not even her real parents!”_

She stopped abruptly, so angry she could only see red in front of her, her fists clenched so tight it hurt. 

She was not a part of this family. Opal was not her sister and Suyin was not her mother. _I really am a rabid dog,_ Kuvira thought bitterly. It was only a matter of time before Suyin’s patience finally snapped and she was thrown out. She looked out the hall’s large window, watching Zaofu in the moonlight. Running away had never worked before, and now that she was in one of the most well-guarded cities in the world, it seemed impossible. Every night she watched the petal walls clenched shut, trapping her in a metal prison. 

“You look like you’re deep in thought.”

Kuvira sneered at Suyin’s sudden appearance, turning her head away from the monarch. Suyin sighed but still joined the girl’s side, looking out the window herself. 

“Beautiful, isn’t it? Don’t you feel lucky to live in such a place? There are so many opportunities for people like you. You can do anything, the potential is laid out before you. Endless.”

“Then let me run away.”

Surprised, Suyin turned to face Kuvira. She frowned when she saw the angry line of her mouth, quivering. _Such a passionate little girl._

“Kuvira, why would you want to run away?” 

“You don’t want me. Not even my own parents wanted me.”

Hesitantly, Suyin knelt down, her hand resting on the girl’s shoulder. She watched as Zaofu turned dark from the corner of her eyes, the orange glow of the courtyard lamps being the only light source. Gently, she asked, “Where would you run away to?”

“I don’t know.”

“It’s dangerous out there for one little girl.”

“I’m stronger than I look.”

Suyin smiled at that. Well, she certainly was determined. “I don’t doubt that. But, that’s why you’re here with me.” 

Kuvira was quiet, a fierce glint in her eye. Suyin couldn’t remember a child looking quite so dangerous before. “Opal shouldn’t have said those things,” She reasoned. “I bet her words hurt you didn’t they?”

Kuvira’s face went dark, her eyes narrowing, her lip furrowing. Suyin vaguely witnessed the hate swirling in the girl’s green eyes, before her hand was slapped away. 

“Kuvira!” She scolded, the hand that had been comforting her, close to her chest in a tight fist. “What-” but before the words could tumble out she was surprised by another strike.

Kuvira lifted her small fist. Suyin could sense the bending before she saw it, the metal around her neck, decorative more than anything else, pulled away from her body where it flew into the air, floating for one menacing second before diving in for an attack. 

It was easy to stop, but in her knee jerk reaction, she grabbed hold of Kuvira’s arm harshly, pulling her other one up as she used the metal to snap around Kuvira’s hands like cuffs, coiling around her wrists, the metal now all distorted and lacking its original form. 

Suyin had defended herself like she was fighting an enemy. Not the eight-year-old child she had taken into her home, who she had promised to nurture. She steadied her breath, a tight knot of shame tying itself inside her chest. 

Kuvira cried out in frustration, trying to wiggle free, but Suyin’s strength was more overwhelming than her own. The older woman stepped back, shuddering at the image before her, Kuvira slumped over, her arms still in her grasp as they wiggled against her, trying to beat on her chest. 

“Let me out!” She demanded in a shaky growl. 

“Kuvira, sweetheart, calm down,” Suyin urged, trying to get the girl to stop thrashing. 

“No! Let me out, let me out, let me out!”

Before Suyin could think to do something, she felt a sharp pain in her side along with a loud swish all around her eardrums. She flinched, grabbing just above her waist, feeling something warm and wet.

It took a moment to realize that Kuvira had escaped, releasing her hands in a sudden burst of strength, sending the strips of metal flying in all directions. Suyin saw the bits and pieces littered over the hall’s floor, stuck in the wall, one even nicked the window.

They stared at each other in shock, even Kuvira unaware that she was capable of throwing the woman off her guard looked stunned. In a terrible moment of silence, just a beat, Kuvira looked at her mentor with horror before turning on her heel, ready to run. Despite the sting of pain, Suyin’s reflexes allowed her to reach out and grab her wrist, holding tight. She gasped as her side whined in protest as she pulled the girl’s body into her own, holding onto her close so she couldn’t try anything more dangerous. 

The clacking of heels made her look up, and she saw the house guards run into the hall, seeing the wreckage and Suyin holding her side in pain as Kuvira whimpered against her. 

“Ma’am, are you alright?!” One asked in stunned worry, ready to run to her side. 

She felt Kuvira shake in her arms. “We’re fine. Please leave us,” She ordered, holding Kuvira tighter. 

The guards shared a skeptical look, but there was nothing they could actually do, so they obeyed. 

She could feel Kuvira push against her even as she cried softly. “Don’t,” Kuvira sobbed. “I hurt you.”

“I’m okay,” Suyin said, hyper-aware of the gash on her side.

When she felt the girl’s body soften in it’s shaking and her sobbing turning into little pitiful coos, she became all too aware that Kuvira really was just a little girl. Angry, sad, and confused. She gently unfolded her from her hold, gently as to make up for being rough earlier.

“I’m okay,” She reassured once more, her voice soft as she caressed Kuvira’s cheek, warm and red. Her thumb wiped at the burning wetness there.

Kuvira sniffed hard, her sullen eyes falling to Suyin’s side where the wound shined bright red. Her robe was torn, revealing skin much paler than her olive arms and face. Just underneath her ribs was a clean line of ugly red, quietly bleeding. Suyin continued to rub her cheek soothingly before petting her hair, humming happily when the girl let her do so without protest. 

Kuvira couldn’t remember such a touch even from her mother. The one that gave her up. Maybe when she was younger or a baby, but even then she had no clear memory of things, just phantom touches, soft and maternal, and warm. 

“You may be tough,” Suyin said, “But I think I’m tougher.” Then studying the girl seriously she added, “Kuvira, do you feel bad that you hurt me?” 

She flinched at the word ‘hurt’, refusing to meet Suyin's gaze. 

“You know… I once hurt somebody very dear to me.”

Kuvira’s eyes peeked up in interest, despite how sullen they looked. 

“Yes, really.” She laughed, though it came out hollow. “My sister. We were never really close, I saw her as my handler more than anything else, but a bad fight caused us to drift apart even further, and I hurt her very badly. I regret that all the time. No matter what I told myself, I couldn’t hide the fact that I love her, and her pain was my pain. It feels bad right? To hurt the people we care about?”

She smiled when Kuvira gave a timid little nod. 

“Now, you didn’t mean to hurt me did you?”

Kuvira teared up again, shaking her head. With one more reassuring pet, she gave Kuvira some space, keeping her at arm’s length. “It might be hard to restrain yourself, especially with your kind of power. Did you know it’s difficult to metal bend? Even most adults have trouble with it.”

Kuvira sniffed. “Really? Even adults?”

“Really. Luckily, you’re with a spectacular metal-bending teacher. I don’t want to stop your strength, Kuvira, I want to nurture it, and we don’t have to hurt anyone in the process.”

Kuvira's arms wrapped around herself, the most vulnerable Su had seen her. “You don’t have to look at me like a mother if you don’t want to. For now, you can just look at me as your mentor.”

Kuvira seemed to ponder that.

“Does that sound alright?”

Kuvira faced Suyin, Timid but determined, a powerful soul trapped in a small body. 

“Okay.”

….

It was years later and Suyin still thought about that day. What an unpredictable angry girl Kuvira used to be. 

Absentmindedly, her fingers grazed over her right side, feeling the tight flesh of a scar, one she forgot she had most of the time. Yet she felt it, like it rested heavy over her skin while still being almost unrecognizable from her stretch marks and other little knicks that kissed her waist. 

“What’s wrong darling?” 

Suyin looked to her side, to her husband who had just woken up. 

“It’s nothing Baatar. I was just reminiscing.” 

“It’s early,” He murmured, his eyes falling shut against the dark bedroom, only a slither of light sneaking out of their closed windows. 

She smiled at his sleeping face, always a welcome sight to see her loved ones look so peaceful. 

She kissed him softly on the temple, slipping out of bed and out of her nightgown, getting ready for the day. She guessed one really did become an early bird the older they became. 

She was in her office, a fresh cup of green tea steaming on the table where her model of Zaofu sat sturdy and shining, always a reminder of what she had accomplished. While looking over her itinerary, a commanding yet gentle knock shook her out of her reveries. 

“Come in,” She commanded. 

A strong figure slipped in, Kuvira, much different than that crying eight-year-old who was floating through Suyin’s thoughts.

“Ma’am,” Kuvira bowed. 

Suyin smirked, nodding her head to the woman. “Captain,” She greeted,

Kuvira gave no sign that she was aware of Suyin’s teasing other than her eyes, which always smiled for her, the corner of her lips barely quirking. 

“I brought you my latest report.” She held up the small logbook. 

“It’s early, Kuvira.”

One black sculpted eyebrow arched. “I knew you would be up ma’am.”

“Oh? I didn’t know you were so attentive.”

“Of course. I’m the guard captain, I should know the matriarch’s habits.” 

Suyin hummed, sipping on her tea. Sometimes she would wonder what it would be like to have been Kuvira’s mother and not her mentor, but they could never make the leap, and no one seemed to try. Sometimes she wondered what it would be like to have Kuvira at the dinner table with the rest of her children, have her banter as they all did, have her company as a loved one rather than her soldier. 

She observed Kuvira, her back straight, her arms crossed obediently behind her back, professional. Sometimes Suyin could see beyond her demeanor, see traces of the child who threw tantrums, of the teenager much too serious, the young woman who was excited to move up into the ranks, hugging Su when she was given the position of guard captain. 

Now she was a weird mix match, somebody vaguely familiar but different. 

“Suyin?”

Su jumped, not realizing she had drifted away, that she had been staring at the woman. She realized that Kuvira had called her by her name, something she rarely did anymore.

“Sorry,” She laughed, waving it off. She looked back down at her itinerary, her eyes skimming the page but the words fading away. “You may leave your report captain. Thank you for your hard work.” 

Kuvira bowed once more in her peripheral vision, her footsteps drifting away before they were hidden behind the closed door of the office. 

Suyin sighed, leaning back on the sofa. 

_Whatever happened between us?_ She wondered, but waved the question away. After all, both of them had much more important things to worry about these days. 


End file.
